1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a textile printing method using an ink-jet process, and a printed textile, and particularly to a method of printing on a cloth containing fibers which can be dyed with a disperse dye, and a printed textile.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, the most common techniques for textile printing are screen printing and roller printing. These printing systems require platemaking and are unsuitable for diversified small-quantity production and cause difficulties for those trying to keep up with changes in fashion. There has recently arisen a demand for electronic textile printing systems which do not involve platemaking. To satisfy this demand, many textile printing methods using ink-jet recording have been proposed, and increasingly expected in many fields.
Requirements for ink-jet printing of cloth include the following:
(1) Providing a sufficient density for coloring; PA1 (2) Achieving a high percentage of dye exhaustion and ease in waste water treatment following the washing process; PA1 (3) Exhibiting less irregular bleeding due to mixture of different colors on cloth; PA1 (4) Allowing a wide range of color reproduction; and PA1 (5) Offering recorded images having stable coloring properties.
Conventional measures to satisfy these requirements include the inclusion of various additives in the ink, controlling the amount of the ink ejected, pre-treating the cloth, etc.
As an ink-jet textile printing method for a cloth which is printed by using a disperse dye, e.g., a polyester cloth, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-118477 discloses a method which uses a disperse dye having a sublimation temperature of 180.degree. C. or more. Printing using ink containing as a coloring material a disperse dye in consideration of only the sublimation temperature thereof exhibits good color development when inks are respectively used for dyeing. However, when inks are mixed on a cloth, after dyeing, the density, the tone and reproducibility of dyeing under the same dyeing conditions differs significantly according to the combination of the dyes used. Therefore, the above requirements (1), (4) and (5) are frequently not satisfied simultaneously. This method is therefore inadequate for allowing the expression of various colors.
It is impossible to fully satisfy the above various requirements, particularly requirement (5), using conventional techniques.
Ink-jet textile printing also was, heretofore, unlikely to give a sufficient density for deep colors such as blue or black. In particular, when a disperse dye is used, this problem is particularly important because the dye molecular structure is limited by the dyeing mechanism of a dye.